Customer service is in everything. Whether you’re a construction worker, a taxi driver, or a teacher, your job is about meeting customer needs. You make a mistake by thinking that you don’t need to worry about service if you never speak to customers directly. Think this way and you won’t have customers for very long.
My entire career as a serial entrepreneur is a case in point. Each of my businesses emerged in response to an awful customer service experience. After dealing with slow and sluggish building erectors, I founded my own steel building erection company. Years of frustration at airports led me to start a private jet transit service. The list goes on.
So, if you’re thinking about being an entrepreneur, you don’t have to look far to find opportunity. Chances are, a poor customer service experience will find you first. That frustration you feel is an open invitation to get into business.
Still, it’s worth considering your decision carefully. Elon Musk once said, “Founding a startup is like eating glass and staring into the abyss…if you need inspiring words, don’t do it.” I tend to agree. In my experience, the most successful entrepreneurs never wanted to start a business. Instead, they were committed to doing their best every day. At some point, founding a company became a means to that end.
I’d never recommend starting a business just to be able to say that you’re an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship can’t be forced, and it’s not for everyone. Plenty of people are fantastic accountants, roofers, or pilots, but they don’t have leadership skills. That’s OK. There’s nothing wrong with finding something you’re good at and sticking with it. And on the flip side, leaders need to remember that their abilities were given to them as a gift.
If you think you can work exceptionally long hours, support people in rough times, and put your own needs last, go for it. We’re lucky to live in a society where everyone can be a founder, so there’s no reason not to try. But be warned: Entrepreneurs will only succeed if they live a life of service.
In my line of work, I deal with plenty of great customers, but there are always a few bad apples. Take as an example a recent job my crews completed. The customer promised to pay us hundreds of thousands of dollars for our work, and we haven’t seen a cent of it yet. But that doesn’t mean that we haven’t held up our side of the contract. In fact, we substantially completed the building we promised to deliver.
Why? Because we believe that it’s right to do as you say, and say as you do. And though we may take short-term hits when we run into people with bad intentions, in the long run, we’ve built a reputation for integrity. That’s what customer service is all about.
Everyone can deliver great service when customers are happy and satisfied, but a commitment to service means keeping your promises even when customers aren’t treating you fairly. And it goes without saying that your employees are only going to be willing to act that way if they see you leading by example.
To be a great leader, you need to be a good person first. Though they may never say it aloud, your employees are counting on you to be a pillar of integrity day in and day out. Personally, I look to the example of my father, who kept his promises as an entrepreneur every day until he retired after 40 years in business. My faith is also a source of strength, as it is for many.
Whatever your situation, you will need some store of value beyond business to motivate you to do the right thing in business. If you fail to act morally, everyone who looks to you for leadership will be disappointed, and your authority will crumble. Worse still, many will find it easier to give in to the temptation to put their own comfort above the customer. Soon, your customers will notice and look for other options.
And would you look at that? We’re right back where we started. Sometimes, the discipline of competition can help us stay accountable to both our customers and to ourselves. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.”
This content was originally published here.
